Reclaiming the Navajo language — through English: A conversation with poet Esther Belin

Diné poet Esther Belin has noticed the unique way writers from her community often engage with the English language.

“Originally forced on us, English is now being reconstructed with Diné sound and thought,” she writes in the March issue of Poetry magazine.

“Indigenous poetics is growing in numerous directions as writers continue to re-embody Indigenous thought and sound — in new and repatriated forms.”

This idea is at the core of this month’s issue, which she guest-edited, of the 113-year-old “Chicago” magazine published by the Poetry Foundation.

Belin worked with more than 20 Indigenous authors — most of them also Diné — to create a collection of poetry and prose that capture the essence of Diné bazaad (the Navajo language).

Diné bazaad and English both take on various forms through the collection, which is available to read in its entirety online.

For instance, Danielle Shandiin Emerson describes Diné bizaad as “a prayer we recognize but can’t translate” in her poem Shí łeeshch’iih béénáshniih, I remember ash:

… Dying embers see
new life, lived protection. Your tongue dispels nightmares,
we stand on cold tile, barefoot — listening to you speak
Diné bizaad, a prayer we recognize but can’t translate.

Doug Gonzalez’s poem Plan Wheel forms the shape of a wheel — creating an intriguing draw to the page. 

Jamie Natonabah’s Shadow Pt. 2 takes place on a page of seemingly blocked out words which leaves the reader wondering.

“The writing in this issue manifests how we are gathering our sounds and patchworking the remnants,” Belin adds in her guest editor’s note.  

The author’s own poetry collections include Of Cartography and From the Belly of My Beauty, which won the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

She spoke with IndigiNews about her process, and how Indigenous writers are reconstructing English, through what one of the magazine’s contributors calls “the Indigenous language of poetry.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Dionne: Can you explain the significance of having an entire issue of Poetry magazine dedicated to the Diné language, with poems by all indigenous poets?

Esther: I think we are coming to a critical mass time — meaning that we finally have the numbers in regards to Indigenous writers who are not just writing, but really have that knowledge and ability to understand methodology and epistemology. 

We can really rearrange the furniture, if you will, in the English language. Releasing some of that shame around why English might be our primary language, and really using it as a way to empower, to motivate, but also to infuse some of our knowledge with that as a tool, and to reframe a lot of things. 

We do have some people for whom the Navajo language, Diné bazaad, is their first language. And then how do they reconcile with English and writing in English? 

For those of us for whom English is our primary language — how do we sort of take off that veil of shame and kind of just say: “Look, I’m still a Navajo woman, regardless of what language I’m speaking. And then how do I incorporate that practice into the writing, into the art, using English?”

So I think that’s kind of fun to see how people are really looking and examining through poetics — through their artistry — as writers on that question.

I feel like I could sense that while reading all the different poems, the different varieties of language — from having a couple of words to having a whole poem in Diné.

Yes, and a lot of the tribal languages — their syntax and the order, the use of grammatics — are very different than English. So we have different types of playfulness or intimacies within language. 

And so then when we talk about translation, you know, we’re still using English letters. So that creates another element of constraint. But then there’s also that ability of listening.

With so many incredible poets featured, what was your process of curating the magazine?

So I had an idea of writers that I wanted to invite, and then I really wanted to do a broadcast of newer writers that are out there. 

For the more well-known writers, I sort of positioned them in a way, like, “Can you do a little more criticism around or inquiry into language?” And that’s where we got some of the prose pieces. 

There’s a group of us who have been writing for a long, long time, and really just asking: “What is that relationship like with the English language or Navajo language? Like, what are we really doing here?”

For the younger writers, I was really looking at that idea of them as sort of emerging into establishing themselves and identifying as a writer, as an Indigenous storyteller. What is that like? What is that process that they’re in contextually — but also literally — in that space?

There are so many different types of poems just in this one magazine — it really showcases each artist and their process. Do you think the poetry showcases the language in an accessible way for audiences to embrace the teachings or meanings behind the words?

I go back and forth on this in the sense that Navajo is one of the more accessible languages — like, you could Google something like: “How do you say this in Navajo?” and you might be able to find it. 

One thing I really wanted to focus on was, how are writers using the language or incorporating poetics that are seen in Navajo grammar in their writing, which could be in English?

I think translation is where we get into this idea of studying how our words are formed and how they are related. 

And Navajo, for short, is really an image. I mean, people say verb-based language, but I think it’s really also image. And then individually, that person creates meaning based off of the context and the relationship to the words or the images. 

So it’s really kind of complex and abstract, and that’s the poetics around it. 

I feel like everyone is finding ways to bring their Indigenous languages back a little bit and just incorporate them more into the modern era. What do you hope readers take away from the issue of the magazine?

First off, just exposure to the fact that, you know, there’s so many Indigenous writers right now, and they’re out there. 

So I think just having people be inclusive of that knowledge, and incorporating Indigenous poetics — or even just tossing that out when they’re teaching creative writing or literature. 

So really just to say, “Hey, we’re small, but we’re just trying to make those connections finally.” 

I noticed Chris Hoshnic writes about poetry bringing the community together. I think that really stands out as a piece for Indigenous people, and is something that’s showcased throughout the issue.

Thanks for noticing that. I think always individually, Native people know that their language is very dear — but when we talk about writing and sharing our writing, I think that’s where there’s a lot of unknown territory, right? 

Like, there are still many tribes — and I don’t know how it is in First Nations [in Canada] — but here in the U.S., there are still some tribes that don’t have a written language. 

They refuse to have it written. They just want to keep that oral language knowledge passing and that’s like, even more of a weight or a responsibility for those individual citizens of their nation. 

So for me, I’m really grateful for whatever documentation people have done with our language even though it might be incorrect or misspelled. 

The more documentation — the more we talk about it with language speakers — the more we’re able to create or reimagine ourselves within that space. And that’s really what it’s all about. 

I feel like it’s individual, but it’s also a community effort as well.

I know up where I’m based in Secwepemcúl’ecw, even just going a few hundred kilometres, our language can be a whole different dialect. The words have the same kind of meanings, but it’s said a bit differently, so I feel like that’s hard to incorporate as well.

Yeah, we don’t have as many dialects as other tribes, but we’re very descriptive, even talking about newer words — like a “cellphone,” or, you know, “technology.” It’s super long. And, we now have a lot of code mixing, code switching, right? 

So we’re adding English in there with Navajo, just out of convenience, more. Like everybody knows “cell phone,” right? 

So you add that in there as an identifier. And we’ve done that before, like Navajo does that already with Spanish language. We have some Spanish phrases that have been sort of given the Navajo accent and are now part of our vocabulary.

I read a piece in the magazine from Beth Piatote, where she said the linguistic structure of the language is so different from English that alternative poetic forms are necessary to bring readers into the thought-world of the language. And I think that really speaks to how poetry can embrace the differences.

That’s the beautiful thing about poetry, right? Because poetry itself sort of frees up grammar and frees up some syntax. 

And so you can have just an image poem. You can have just a sound poem. And I think that visceral connection to language is so real for many Indigenous people, especially to get the language back — there’s such a desire, a yearning, to really have those words. 

But part of it, which the beautiful part, is sometimes we just have fragments, but then those fragments can easily fit into poetic form. 

And so I think that’s kind of what she’s talking about. The more we talk about this, the more people will have knowledge validating us. 

I feel like there are students who hear Navajo and they can hear the language, they can understand it, and they have that syntax order in their head. 

And so when they start to write English, they’re writing in a Navajo syntax, and it looks like poor English grammar. So they’re just like, “OK, you guys can’t read and write” — which is just not the case, right? 

Because I do that sometimes, even though English is my first language. 

Navajo was spoken by both my parents in the home, like every day. So that hearing it — and the order of things — it’s very real, and I’ve been really trying to tap into it more.

And I’m not a linguist. This is all sort of in-development, as I’m doing my own writing and I’m reading.

Is there anything else that’s important you’d like to share?

I’m really grateful that the Poetry Foundation has the means to put all of this online so it’s accessible to everybody. That’s why I went with this publication, because anybody can access it. You don’t have to have a subscription. 

And so that was huge for me: that any rez kid, anybody on the planet, could just go to the website and hear Diné poetics.